oliver sacks tales of music and the brain

He joins us here in our NPR's studios.ĭr. He's professor of clinical neurology and clinical psychology at Columbia University Medical Center and a Columbia University artist in New York. His other books include 'An Anthropologist on Mars: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,' and 'Awakening.' You're familiar with him. His most recent book is 'Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain' is just out. You can surf over to our Web site at and meet some avatars wearing SCIENCE FRIDAY T-shirts over in 'Second Life' in Science School, so a lot of different ways to interact with us. So if you'd like to talk about music with Dr. How it can reach people with a wide array of neurological disorders from amnesia to epilepsy to Alzheimer's, when little or nothing else can get through to them. We're also going to talk about the healing power of music. Sometimes, some people see music in full color. He's here with us today to make that case and to talk about what happens when the wiring goes bad, when we lose the power to perceive music.Ĭan't get it out of our heads, you know? How did that happened? You know, you hear it when it isn't really there. In his new book, 'Musicophilia,' Oliver Sacks says that for all of us, our auditory systems, our nervous systems are exquisitely tuned for music.

We each have a soundtrack for our lives, and you don't have to be able to make music or even understand it in an educated way to appreciate it. From the earliest songs you remembered to the music of your teenage years, you know, music can bring back those memories just hearing a little bit of a song, to the tunes you play today to get you through a workout or a tough time, or the music that helps you celebrate or worship or dance. Think about your own experiences with music and, you know, you'll see what he means. We're all wired for music, according to my next guest. This is TALK OF THE NATION: SCIENCE FRIDAY.

Oliver sacks tales of music and the brain